Micksh

Your port area is a little small...plus the 9:1 ratio is a little more than it should be. Is it going to whistle? Probably a little, especially if you don't round the edges. Will you hear it in the trunk? My guess would be no. I have an SA-8 in a center console enclosure. My port is a 3" aeroport, again, slightly smaller than it probably should be, but I don't hear any noise and that is in the cabin with me. anyone else have any thoughts for jokers10?

Tonight!

Tomorrow guys! Good way to get some idea what you are gonna hit at a comp...you can do some tweaking to find that peak frequency! Gonna be a beautiful evening for it!

Bump for this weekend!

Hey guys, bringing this post back up...this is going on again this Saturday, September 17th, but from about 5pm-9pm...weather looks like it's going to be good, they'll be bringing the SPL meter, plus an O-scope to help you guys set gains, and also he always has his clamp to test your amp's power output...if nothing else, come out and talk audio with everyone!

It's great when people leave detailed reviews...I know for me it really helps make buying decisions easier, especially on products I've never used or heard before!

Here's a link to my build for a Sundown SA-8 in a center console in a mini-van.... I love it. It's more of a sound quality setup for me, but hits around 129 dB with around 450 watts running it. Maybe you can get a few ideas from mine...

Come on out this evening locals! Looks like nice weather for this!

Bump for this Saturday!

Hope to see some people out there this Saturday, weather is lookin good so far!

Yeah, thanks..we are all old school guys, so we were always the guys playing our stereos all day and competing in the afternoon...could we have hit a little higher numbers had we kept it closed up and charged? Probably, but we had a whole lot more fun showing it off to the people who hadn't heard a loud vehicle before....

Hoping some guys closer want to come check it out! We all love to sit around and talk audio...

Hey guys, re-posting this in a different section to see if anyone is interested... Hey there everyone....I have a few friends who do a little free "tweak and test" thing for SPL every couple weeks. The next one is Saturday, August 20th (weather permitting of course.) It will be from 4pm-9pm at the Brunswick car show. The city holds a car show/crusin gig every Saturday at Laurel Square Shopping Center. They have their own space to do test and tune, just look for the EZ-UP tent and some loud cars around it. The address is 1733 Pearl Road, Brunswick Ohio 44212. It's about 18 miles south of Cleveland and about 20 miles north of Akron. Of course its free. They will be having a competition there in the fall where all money paid in to compete gets paid back to the winners. These guys don't do it for the money, just because they love loud cars. These guys and I have built a few IASCA and Db Drag World Record holders in the past, so we love our loud cars. So come on down, they'll have the meter there, and test your car for free! Or, if you just love to hang out and talk stereo, that's cool too. There's usually a bunch of cars to look at for the car show too, so it's fun all around. By the way, they aren't too bad about it being loud, as long as you aren't playing it with the doors wide open for a long time. So come on out and have fun! I'll try to update the thread when we get close to the date so everyone knows if it will look like the weather is going to let us be there..... Thanks, Mick.

Good catch Alton, I missed that. I'm assuming they are the dual 2, which on Fi's website shows an Re of 1.4 per coil. So it's just a mixup in the way it was explained I believe. I wonder if you are correct about the amp handling that low impedance ok or not....

Hopefully I put this in the right area, maybe I should have put it in the Competition and Organized Events area?

I think a thorough review is the only way it is helpful to others considering a product....me saying "it bumps" or "this thing slams" doesn't really give a true idea of the sound of a woofer....

Thanks guys for the informative topic...I don't think many people realize what a difference sound deadening can have on your system...everyone thinks about the rattles and things from the sub-bass, not many think about the effect on midbass/midrange and just the overall road noise and sound improvements that can be had. It's sometimes an overlooked part of the system, just as alternators and batteries always were until the push for high SPL numbers became big...thanks again!

Yeah, I'm an old school guy. Like some new music, but still listen to a lot of the same stuff I used to, especially when doing critical listening...

Thanks, a lot of people will be like... "Jennifer Warnes? Clair Marlo? WTF?" But it's stuff I'm familiar with from the old competing days...

Thanks for the kind words. The sub sure is impressive. Doesn't mean I wouldn't like to hear something different in my next build, possibly an SSA sub. But for this vehicle, the SA-8 was a perfect sub for the space constraints I had.

Posted my review in the product review section...check it out...

Love the console flex!

Okay, it's been a couple days since I installed it, you can look at my build log ....Anyways, it's installed in about .6 cu. ft. center console enclosure firing down about 3 1/2" off the floor and a 3" Aeroport firing out toward the front, under the dash. It's tuned to around 36-37Hz...for power I have an old school Planet Audio (Zed made) P1002, running 2 ohms mono (about 450 watts). For mids and highs, I have an Autotek Model 33 running some 6 1/2" Viper Audio, some Vifa/Hollywood Sound 4" dome midranges, and some Polk MM1200 tweets. (Yeah I know, all old stuff, gotta get updated in my next build) Let me preface these reviews saying I have the sub level turned a little lower level than I normally listen at, I set it more like what an IASCA/USAC judge would listen to. Honestly, I have it even higher than that, as usually the judges prefer it even lower but it's a little too "light" sounding in the sub-bass for me that way. Now, on to the review... Jennifer Warnes - "Bird on a Wire" from the album Famous Blue Raincoat Listening to this track brings me back to the old competition days...The SA-8 had just the right amount of depth and "overhang" on the beats. Every note sounded solid and deep, just as the recording was intended. Good start.. 4.5/5 rating from me Jennifer Warnes again - "Ain't no Cure for Love" Balanced, clean bass. Sounded smooth and a perfect mix of impact and punchiness. I like it. (By the way, great track if you want to test the stereo separation and imaging of your system, USAC judges used to use this to hear the placement of singers and musicians across the soundstage.) 4.5/5 Clair Marlo - "All for the Feeling" off the Sheffield/Coustic Test and Demonstration Disc Again, a song USAC judges used to use. From the percussionists to the sound of the drumming by the late Jeff Porcaro, of Toto fame (yeah dating myself here) a good track to hear a lot of distinctive sounds in the bass. Tight when it needed to be, the SA-8 did a nice job here. 4/5 Metallica - "Enter Sandman" Wow...the SA-8 sounded like thunder at the beginning of this track. Maybe not QUITE as clean as some setups I've heard on this, but still very good. The regular bass drum in the rest of the song was great though, tight, DEEP, and felt like you were sitting right next to Lars Ulrich's bass drum. NICE. 4/5 Maroon 5 - "Harder to Breathe" DAMN! Shocked me the output and impact the SA-8 had on this song...Clean, powerful, and just rocked the van with great bass. One of my favorite songs I listened to. 5/5 Michael Buble - "Come Fly with Me" Really impressive here. The stand up bass sounded great. The best word I can describe it here with is REALISTIC. I love listening to his music because it shows a balance of so many different instruments, plus his voice is outstanding. The SA-8 really shined on this one. 5/5 Now onto some fun... Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra - "Back to the Future" theme song off Star Tracks II This one was more for my pleasure. This song, (along with The Planet Krypton an the same disc) have SERIOUS lows...well below most people's hearing. Being that my enclosure is tuned at 36-37, I didn't expect much here. I was pleasantly surprised though, as long as I didn't try to overdrive the SA-8, it did a pretty nice job of making you feel the low bass without sounding like it was going to come ripping out of the box. Not bad. And the notes that weren't WAY below the tuning frequency of the box sounded great. No complaints from me. It is just an 8", so for that I cut it some slack. 4/5 Bass Patrol - "30's and Lows" Just HAD to see what the little beast could do. The first few notes in this song are kind of low for this box, so it wasn't spectacular there, but when the higher bass notes kick in, WOW. Is that really an 8"? REALLY impressive output for such a small driver. I played a few more bass songs after this, and it does great as long as you don't go too far below the tuning frequency. 4.5/5 So overall, that means my score I gave the SA-8 in this review was a SOLID 35.5 out of a possible 40. I may have even been able to grade it a little higher with a lower tuning point, but just didn't have the space for a longer port. Still though, LOVE this sub, and already have a friend thinking about a bunch of these or the E8's in his next build, since he's always liked the snappy sound of small drivers. Actually have another friend I may get into a few 12" like the Z series...only problem with this review is it makes me see the limitations of my old school inside speakers, can't wait till I get a nicer car so I can upgrade all of that too! Last thing I have to say, GREAT JOB JACOB! I'm a believer, I always ran stuff like JL, Orion, Oz Audio, MB Quart etc., and this little sub runs right with the big boys, if not surpassing many of them! Thanks!

Try opening a window and/or a door....may give you an idea if it's a loading problem if it gets significantly louder right away...

Could it be something so simple like you wiring the two voice coils out of phase by mistake? It would be seeing a low impedance, and the sub would try like crazy to produce...just would cancel and heat the coils up...I know you aren't a noob, but hey, it happens sometimes....